Fluid treating container for use in fluid treating apparatus



March 15, 1960 A. D. SWEET ETAL FLUID TREATING CONTAINER FOR USE IN FLUID TREATING APPARATUS Filed April 13, 1959 Ill INVENTORS 19/706 .27 Sin-2r III III Ha /4 627 K/V/z 15E ATTORNEY6 United States PatentO FLUID TREATING CONTAINER FOR USE IN FLUID TREATING APPARATUS Amos 1). Sweet and Richard K. Miller, Houston, Tex., asslgnors to Jefiierson Lake Sulphur Company, New Orleans, La., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 13, 1959, Serial No. 806,156

3 Claims. (Cl. 1S3-'4.6)

This invention relates to fluid treating apparatus of the type in which fluids, either liquid or gaseous, are broughtinto contact with a fluid treating material, either a reactant material to elfect a chemical reaction, and/or an adsorbent material to adsorb liquid or gaseous products from the fluid being treated, and in which the treating material is stripped of its adsorbed products and/or is regenerated for further use.

The present invention has more particular reference to containers for holding the fluid treating material in such apparatus.

In fluid treating apparatus of the type disclosed in US. Patents Nos. 2,617,986 and 2,751,033, the fluid treating material is formed into a multiplicity of beds, each contained within the annulus between two cylinders of wire cloth, perforated metal, or other suitable material. These beds are periodically subjected to relatively high temperatures for the purpose of regenerating or reactivating the fluid treating material, after which they are cooled and returned to the treating zones of the apparatus.

During the heating period, the metal comprising the retaining cylinders undergoes thermal expansion both in linear and a circumferential direction. During the cooling period said metal parts tend to contract to their original dimensions.

The differential circumferential expansion is complicated by the fact that the circumferential length ofvthe outer cylinder is longer than that of the inner cylinder. This results in a slight but positive increase in the area of the annulus during the heating period.

If the fluid treating material contained in the annulus is silica gel or alumina, so that the volumetric expansion of the adsorbent is negligible, the area increase, occasioned by the difierential expansion of the metallic containers, allows some settlement of the adsorbent into the enlarged annulus.

During the cooling cycle, wherein the metal contracts thermally, there are three possible results:

(1) The settled bed must be forced upwardly so that the original annular area is restored.

(2) Some of the fluid treating material must be compressed or crushed so that the annular area is restored.

(3) The outer retaining cylinder may be stressed by contracting around the settled fluid treating material bed so that it does not completely recover its original circumference.

To some degree, all three of these phenomena occur, but after some thousands of heating and cooling cycles, the last mentioned or stressing of the metallic retainer, reaches the degree of causing failure of the metal.

One object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved fluid treating material bed container in which all of the defects caused by expansion and contraction of the retaining cylinders are overcome.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved fluid treating material bed container, as characterized above, in which the innerv and outer retaining cylinders of the container are made of two 2,928,495 Patented Mar. 15, 196 0 treating material substantially constant during the heat ing and cooling cycles of operation of the apparatus.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved fluid treating material container, as characterized above, wherein the inner cylinder is provided with an expansion bellows to compensate for the diifercntial in the lengthwise expansion and contraction of the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will ap pear in the following specification when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view, with parts broken away, of a fluid treating material container constructed in accordance with the present invention and mounted in a cylindrical vessel of a fluid treating apparatus; and

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the fluid treating material containing vessel shown in Fig. 1. p

While the containers of the present invention may be employed with various types of fluid treating apparatus, preferably, they are designed for use in rotary fluid treating apparatus .such as shown in the above referred to Patent No. 2,751,033, and, for purposes of illustration,

will be described as employed in such apparatus.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown, in Fig. l, a fluid treating material container, indicated generally at 10, constructed in accordance with the present invention and mounted within a closed end cylindrical vessel, indicated generally at 11, of the type employed to hold fluid treating material, as shown in Patent No. 2,751,033.

The container 10 is shown as comprising concentric inner and outer cylindrical tubular members 12 and 13, respectively; a circular bottom closure plate 14 for closing the bottom end of the annular space between the two cylinders and the opening into the inner cylinder; and an annular top closure plate 15 for closing the top end of the annular space between the two cylinders.

The inner cylinder 10 has its lower end secured, as by welding, to the outer edges of an annular plate 16 which is detachably secured, as by bolting, to the bottom closthe plate 14. The lower end of the outer cylinder 13 is secured, as by welding to an upstanding flange 17 car-' ried'by an annular plate 18 detachably secured to the bottom closure plate 14, as by bolting.

The outer cylinder 13 is perforated throughout its area from a'point about eight inches from the top of its upper edge and has a wire cloth 19 secured to its internal surface, as by spot welding. The outer cylinder, at its upper end, is secured, as by welding, to an annular plate 20 which is detachably secured to the top cover plate 15, as by bolting.

The inner cylinder 12 has an expansion bellows 21 formed in the upper eight inches of its upper end portion and the portion of the cylinder below the bellows is perforated throughout its entire area. The upper end of the bellows portion of the cylinder is secured, as by welding, to an annular plate 22 which is detachably secured to the top closure plate 15, as by bolting. The outer surface of the perforated portion of the inner cylinder has a wire cloth 23 secured thereto, as by tack welding.

The annular space between the perforated portions of the inner and outer cylinders provides a space to contain the fluid treating material, in the instant case, a silica gel.

The container 10 is shown as being provided with a conical baffle member 24 mounted within the inner cylinder 12 and having a closed upper end with its bottom end suitably secured to the bottom end of the cylinder 12.

cl A lifting bar, 25 extends across the annular top cover plate 15 and is suitably secured thereto by'welding, thus providing means for hoisting thecontainer out of the cylinder 11 when necessary. j

The top cover plate is also provided with a plurality? of circumferentially spaced threaded plug closed open ings 26; so that the annular space between the retaining cylinders 12 and -13 may be filled-with fluid treating material without removing the top cover plate 15.

- In order to minimize the expansion of the annular area between the inner and outer tubular members or cylint ers 12 and '13, the inner cylinder 12 is made of a metal having a high coefficient of thermal expansion and the outer cylinder 13 is made of a metal having a low coflicient of thermal expansion, so that the inner'cylinder will increase in circumference aha-faster rate than the outer'cylinder, thus maintaining the 'area of th e'an nulus containing the fluid treating material substantially constant duringjthe heating and cooling cycles to'which the container is exposed in the operation of the fluid treating apparatus in which it is employed.

Preferably, and in the particular embodiment of the invention illustrated, the 'inner' cylinder 12, including the bellows portion ll 'and the wire cloth 23 secured to its outer surface, are made of an aluminum alloy such as Alcoa alloy No. 5052, which has a thermal coefficicnt of expansion of about 14.2 in./in./ F The outer cylinder 13, as well as the wire cloth 19 secured to its inner surface, are made of a chrome'steel alloy such as type 410 stainless steel which has a thermal coefiicientof.

expansion :of about. 5.4 l0- in. /in./ F. The exparision bellowsil formed in the inner cylinder 12 takes care of the:.di fference in the lengthwise expansion of the two cylinders;

The cylindrical vessel 11 is generally similar to that shown in Patent No. 2,751,033, except thatcan inwardly turned ledge 27 is provided adjacent its upper end for receiving the overhanging edge of the top cover plate 15 of the container so that the container is suspended in the vessel.

The upper portion of the vessel 11 above the inturned tions of these cylinders could be made entirely of wire cloth or other suitable materiall s From the foregoing, it readily will be seen that there has been provided a noveland improved container hav "ing spaced concentric, walls toprovide an annulus adapted to contain an annular bed of fluid treating material and one which is top'revent damage to thecylindrical wall thereof due to expansion and contraction.

Obviously, the invention is not restricted to the particular modification herein shown and described.

I I What is'claimed is:

1 A container for granular fluid treatingmaterial for use in fluid treating apparatus in whichfthecontainer is subjected to alternating flows of fluids of high and low temperatures therethrough, comprising radially spaced apart inner and outer upright concentric cylindrical members, each having a short section of its upper side wall imperforate' and with the remainder thereof perj forate, means for closing one end of the cylindrical mem l bers and means for closing the annulus between the cylin drical members at their other ends, said concentric cylindrical members beingm ade of materials having different coetficien ts of'thermalexpansion withtheinner of the two cylindrical members havinga higher coefficient 10f :thermal expansion than the outer, the construction and ledge 27 is cylindrical and is provided with the usual bafllevplate 28 and removable cover plate 29. In addi tion, the side wallof the vessel 11 below the ledge 27 is tapered downwardly and outwardly and the bottom wall of the vessel is inclined upwardly. This tapered: or gen erally conical shape of the side wall of thevessel, below the-ledge 27, is so made as to cooperate with. the conical baffle member 24 of the container 10 to insure-flow disa tribution through the annular bed of fluid treating material contained therein. Conduits 30, 31 are connected to the top and bottom portions, respectively,' of the vessel 11 to provide for fluid flow" therethrough.

While the container 10 is shown as being suspended in of about 5. x 10- inJ/inJ F.

.arrangement'being such that the annulus between the cylindrical members provides a space for the fluid treatingjmaterial, and the] area of the annulus 'is maintained substantially, constanf'as the members expand and contract;

2. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein the imperforate section of'the inner one of said cylindrical members is inthe. form of an expansion bellows. i

' 3. A container as set forth in claim 1, wherein the in ner' cylindrical member is made of a rnctalalloy having a thermal, coefficient of expansion of about l4.2 10- in./in. F., and-the outer cylindrical member is made of a metal alloy havingfatherrnal coefiicient of expansion References Citedin thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS .2',07 s,511 De Baufre Mar. 30,1931 2,617,986 Miller Nov. 11, 1952 2,751,033

, Miller June l9, 1956 Mason Aug. 4, 1874 Clint: 

